1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector assembly and particularly to a connector assembly with an auxiliary device for aiding a jig or other fixing mechanism to install the connector assembly onto an electrical device such as a printed circuit board.
2. The Prior Art
With the continuing trend toward compact electronic apparatus, the demand for miniaturized interconnection systems between electronic components of the apparatus is continuously increasing along with the demand to reduce thickness and height parameters of the electronic components.
To reduce the size of electronic components, relatively thin connectors are required for locating and terminating tail portions of terminals related to circuit traces on the printed circuit board. The tails may be soldered to the circuit traces on the board or in holes defined therein, and a complementary connector assembly may be mounted directly to a connector block or interconnected therewith by terminal pins extending through the holes of the printed circuit board.
In an advanced assembling procedure, a connector assembly is usually mounted on a surface of an electrical apparatus such as a printed circuit board by means of a vacuum suction nozzle or the like. However, during installation of the connector assembly onto the printed circuit board, complications always occur such as misalignment of the connector assembly with trace pads on the printed circuit board or improper timing release of the connector assembly from the vacuum-suction nozzle, always occur due to improper cooperation between the vacuum-suction nozzle and the assembly connector.
More specifically, a connector assembly is secured by the vacuum suction nozzle and then brought to a selected position on the printed circuit board. The connector assembly is then released from the vacuum suction nozzle by removing the negative pressure acting thereon. Thereafter, gas is released inside the soldering reflow solder vessel or infrared rays are radiated therein until the solder applied to selected conductors on the printed circuit board has been melted, thereby soldering the selected conductors to solder tails of the electrical connector. The connector assembly should have a smooth or flat top surface for effective use of the vacuum suction nozzle. The connector assembly often has an entire top surface occupied by closely spaced terminal receiving openings which do not provide a level surface, thus hindering the performance of the vacuum suction nozzle.
A detachable cover for the connector assembly has recently been proposed to provide a smooth top surface for engagement and cooperation with the vacuum suction nozzle. Once the connector assembly is positioned on the predetermined mounting surface of the printed circuit board by the vacuum suction nozzle and after the solder reflow process, the cover is removed and the connector assembly is retained on the printed circuit board by the soldering of the solder tails to the selected circuit traces on the printed circuit board.
The prior art related to the above examples have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,396,245; 4,645,278; 5,026,295; 5,055,971; 5,242,311; 5,249,977; 5,277,601; and 5,383,797. However, the prior art does not include a structure by which more than one connector assembly can be simultaneously mounted on a printed circuit board.
It is therefore requisite to invent a new structure by which the simultaneous mounting of several connector assemblies can be facilitated for promoting manufacturing efficiency.